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LOT 0362
Romanian Orthodox Royal Wooden Doors with Annunciation Scene
CIRCA 1750 A.D.
52 x 13 3/8 in (13.8 kg total, 132 x 34 cm each).
Each door a single board with graduated scalloped upper edge, horizontal wooden bars to the reverse, hand-forged iron hinge knuckles and D-section leader to left door; primed with tempera on both faces and painted on the obverse, each with a bottle-green field, blue-grey frontage with vermillion upper storey and gilt roof; Left Door: portion of city wall with tall, narrow building behind, balcony at the upper level with King David standing holding an unfurled scroll, wearing a gilt crown, vermillion tunic and blue mantle; before the wall a winged angel Gabriel holding a frond, wearing a draped mantle over ankle-length chiton and sandals; above, red painted legend 'BOUNA'; to the right edge, a D-section leader painted with red, white and blue diagonal stripes; Right Door: portion of city wall with tall, narrow building behind, balcony at the upper level with King Solomon standing holding a scroll and wearing a gilt crown, similar tunic and mantle to the other; dove descending towards Mary standing before the wall in front of a cushioned throne, with gilt nimbus around her head; red painted legend 'V E S T I R E' above; rare. [2]
ProvenanceProperty of a London, UK, gentleman collector.
Accompanied by a copy of a Romanian export licence.
Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D’Amato.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.12466-229954.
This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.
Cf. Popescu, G.A., Cristiani d'Oriente, spiritualità, arte e potere nell'Europa Post-Bizantina, Milano, 1999, fig.69, for similar; cf. also Baboș, A., ’Royal Doors of Maramures beyond their appearances’ in Museikon, a journal of Religious Art and Culture, 6/2022, pp.263-294, for similar doors and discussion.
FootnotesThe 'royal doors' (Greek: Ωραία Πύλη) mark the entrance to the iconostasis (wooden screen hiding the altar) in an Eastern Orthodox church.
CONDITIONTimeLine Auctions follows a vetting process to ensure the authenticity and legality of all items, reinforcing our commitment to integrity and responsible trading. Each antiquity, antique, and coin lot undergoes thorough examination by a vetting committee of at least ten external specialists, professional trade association members, scientists, and archaeologists: Our Vetting Process
AUCTIONS:
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LOT 0362
Romanian Orthodox Royal Wooden Doors with Annunciation Scene
Sold for (Inc. bp): £4,680
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Reproduction Native American Knapped Arrowheads
20th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £13
Including obsidian and other types, barbed-and-tanged, two with broad tang. 267 grams total, 7-16.2 cm
From the private collection of Kenneth Machin (1936-2020), Buckinghamshire, UK; his collection of antiquities and natural history was formed since 1948; thence by descent. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato. -
Large Cretan Wooden Icon Fragment of Deesis with Christ Pantocrator and Saint John the Prodromos
Circa 1670 A.D.Estimate: £1,200 - 1,700 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £650
Depicting Christ Pantocrator and Saint John on his side, hand of Mary visible on the left; the Lord of the Universe represented seated upon a cushioned throne, the right hand in blessing gesture, the left hand holding a Gospel decorated with precious stones; wearing a blue chlamys and red sticharion; Saint John in proskynesis in front of Christ, dressed in a brown vestis talaris; the head of both surrounded by a red halo; later wire for hanging to the reverse with an information sheet in German. 1.8 kg, 57 cm
Ex Hargesheimen Auction House, Dusseldorf, Germany. Property of a London, UK, gentleman collector. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.
The icon represents a middle section from a Deesis of a church iconostasis. Although preserved as a fragment, it is designed in the high style of the late 16th century. -
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Roman Style Silver Statuette of a Magistrate
20th century A.D. or earlierSold for (Inc. bp): £26
Standing erect with left hand extended gripping a scroll; wearing a full toga fastened at the waist and draped over the body; the head with short hair in the Julian style and a laurel wreath to the brow; after the antique; mounted on a custom-made display stand. 98 grams total, 93 mm including stand
From a collection acquired on the UK art market from various auction houses and collections mostly before 2000. From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.
The statuette represents a city magistrate clad in a toga, the most famous 'official' civil dress of the Roman period between the first century B.C. and the first century A.D. The fully developed toga of Consular and Imperial Rome was shaped as a segment of a circle and about 18 and a half feet long by seven feet wide at its centre. It was decorated at times by a purple or red stripe along the straight edge. The type of garment of our statuette is similar to the one seen on the statue of Emperor Titus at the Vatican Museum.
